The 15th Member of the Zodiac
by MidnightDreamer26
Summary: There’s a new girl in town, and she knows the Sohmas! Too bad she seems to be afraid of them…What’s her secret? How does she know the Sohmas? Is she part of the zodiac? What part is she? Yeah, I suck at summaries, so deal with it.


**Title: The Fifteenth Member of the Zodiac**

**Fruits Basket FanFiction**

**Disclaimer: I Do NOT own Fruits Basket or any of the character (except my own, Kae), cause if I did **SPOILER** Yuki would not end up with Machi and Kyo and Tohru wouldn't end up together either. **SPOILER OVER** I'm not going to say this again, so too bad! (Actually, I will, since I think I have to…)**

**Rating: T for extreme language**

**Summary: There's a new girl in town, and she knows the Sohmas! Too bad she seems to be afraid of them…What's her secret? How does she know the Sohmas? Is she part of the zodiac? What part is she? Yeah, I suck at summaries, so deal with it.**

**Pairings: Do you really want to know ahead of time?**

**Chapter 1: Oh NO**

**Kaelyn**

Life officially sucks, I thought as I stared at the school uniform. It was exactly what you saw kids in TV shows wearing. White button down short-sleeved blouse under a black sailor's type shirt and a black miniskirt. Finished with white stockings and plain black shoes. Ugh.

I made a face as I held up the clothes, staring at them with baleful hatred. I had to wear this. God. A damn miniskirt, for god's sake. A _mini skirt_! God. I closed my eyes, preparing for the torture. New school. New uniform. I'd have to deal with it.

Good lord.

I eventually got dressed, since I ended in front of the school. It was large and . . . school-ish looking.

"Uhm, hi," A voice said, sounding friendly. I turned to look at the girl. She was moderately pretty with long brown hair and brown eyes. "Are you a new student? Because I haven't seen you around the school before."

"Uh, yeah, I'm new," I replied, staring at the floor instead of at her. My right hand brushed my left one behind my back, just to make sure I didn't forget the brace and me glove. "Who are you?"

"I'm Honda Tohru, pleased to meet you!" She said, sticking out her hand. I immediately stuck my left hand in my pocket and reluctantly shook her hand with my right. "Shall I show you to your first class?"

"Uh, no, thanks," I said immediately, motioning with my hands. "No need. I'll find it. Thanks."

I backed away and rushed for the building that said office on the outside. I couldn't afford to make friends. And I'd ended up in the exact place that . . . Damn it. The bond was stronger than was good for me.

I found the room without much difficulty. People weren't staring at me. Yet. They also hadn't seen what was under my glove and my brace yet.

My wrist was aching when I went inside, keeping my head down as I approached the teacher's desk. I glanced at my schedule briefly before greeting her, "Are you Shiraki-sensei?"

"Yes, how may I help you?" She said in a friendly tone. She stacked some papers and turned in her chair to look me over. "Are you the new student? What's your name?"

"Leikfang Kaelyn and yeah, I'm the new kid," I answered for her, looking away. I didn't meet her eyes, didn't look to see what she looked like. I didn't care. "Where should I sit?"

"Between Honda Tohru-san and Sohma Yuki-san," She said airily.

I froze up. My muscles bunched together and my eyes widened. My teeth snapped together and my hands shook. My face paled, my breathing hitched and then quickened to an unhealthy pace. Fear lunged up and down my spine like a blazing fire. Sohma Yuki. Sohma. Did she say . . . _Sohma_? Sohma? Oh…. oh no! God. No. Please.

What had I done to deserve this?

"I'm sorry, but did you say Sohma?" I asked, swallowing. I probably misheard. Yeah. That was it. She hadn't said Sohma, she had said something else. Something completely different.

She nodded, to my dismay. "Yes. Sohma Yuki. Back there." She even pointed him out to me.

I just nodded. I hugged my books to my chest and moved slowly the seat. I could hear people whispering around me.

"What's the brace for, do you think?"

"Broken or sprained wrist probably."

"Why is she only wearing one glove?"

"Whoa, does she have purple and blue highlights in her hair?"

"No idiot, she has black hair."

"She _does_ have those two pieces of red hair."

"Those are dyed, stupid."

I slid into the seat, pushing my books onto the desk. I let my head connect with the top book cover and closed my eyes. Hell had officially begun.

I could feel the Sohma boy staring at me, but at least I already knew Honda-san. She seemed nice enough to socialize with. I could risk a friend. After all, how likely was it that she knew the Sohmas? Million to none, by the size of China.

Shiraki-sensei announced that we were supposed to split into pairs, and I automatically grabbed Tohru's arm. I watched out of the corner of my eye as Sohma was forced to pair with an orange-haired boy. Neither one looked happy at the arrangement.

Wait. Orange? I stared at him with wide, frightened eyes. One Sohma. Two Sohma. Two Sohmas! What had I done to deserve this? This torture? What had I done? Huh? Huh?

"Hey, Honda-san, you don't mind working with me? You know, showing me the ropes here at the school?"I asked her quickly, tearing my eyes away from the two Sohmas. "I'm sorry about earlier."

She smiled. "Sure, uhm…What's your name?"

"Leikfang Kaelyn," I said immediately.

"Pleased to meet you, Leikfang-san," She said with another cordial smile. She smiled a damn lot, didn't she? "Now, you can copy out of my workbook for today, but you'll have to get one at the school store the rest of the year."

I nodded, only half paying attention. We breezed through the page, partially because I'd done a similar exercise at my last school. When we were done, Tohru told me that we could either sit and talk or read. I chose talk, big surprise. I couldn't help glancing at the Sohmas, who kept bickering, every couple of seconds to see if I recognized them.

I _did_ know them. Shit.

Yuki was the kind of boy that's more beautiful than he is handsome, but he really did look good. He was tall and had a slender built. Grayish-purple hair and purple eyes a shade or two darker made him looked a lot like a girl – especially the eyes.

The kid with the orange hair I remembered, too. Kyo. He was the cat of the family, the lost and the forgotten. He hadn't change much either. He was still pretty tall and didn't look too strong although he trained in martial arts and was pretty good; it didn't surprise me that Yuki wasn't afraid of him. He also still had the same half-crazed eyes.

And the beads on his wrist, of course. Thirteen black and white beads, which were actually painted human bones on a strand of human hair. They kept him from transforming into his true form, a monster with a horrid stench. If not his cat. I'd have to push Tohru into him sometime.

After class, I quickly packed my things and dragged Tohru into the hallway. She chattered all the way to our next class. It sort of bothered me that the two Sohmas were following a few feet behind us. Yuki looked curious and Kyo just looked pissed. I didn't bother asking Tohru why they were following us. I didn't want to know more about the Sohmas than I had to.

I had geometry second, which is basically the only subject I suck at. I just don't get math. I can do the basics, like adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing, and I'm good at doing them in my head. But all the stuff about shapes and all that crap. Yeah. Right. I don't even get why we have to learn it. Who was going to use it when they grew up, huh?

Towards the end of the Geometry class, Honda surprised me. She poked my arm and said, "Would you like to come over tonight after school and join us for dinner, Leikfang-san?"

I just stared at her for a minute. "Uhm, okay." Perhaps it was the fact that she invited me over after knowing me for only about an hour and a half, but I began thinking of her as Tohru.

That was about all the worthwhile conversation we had, up until lunch. After a grueling hour of P.E., Tohru led me to the cafeteria. The place was huge, but she managed to show me the whole place while we got lunch. She pulled me to a table where two girls already sat.

One was the same height as Tohru, with thick black hair that she was braiding. Her fingernails were painted black, and her gaze was gloomy. She smiled at Tohru, her eyes wavering briefly to me with a judging glance.

The other girl was taller than the three of us by quite a bit, a tough-looking blond. She grinned and waved at Tohru, throwing me a baleful glare. She looked like the kind of girl to have been part of a gang or something.

Both girls looked adoringly at Tohru, like parents or love-sick puppies. Definitely parents. Shit. But neither would have been good candidates in my mind for the bubbly girls' friendship. Then again, Tohru had picked me, too.

She sat down and smiled at me. I just stood there, my hands shaking slightly as they held my tray. I swallowed and licked my lip nervously. The blond scared me a little, to be honest.

"This is Arisa Uotani-san," Tohru said, waving at the blond. The girl nodded. "And this is Saki Hanajima-san." She continued with a gesture at the black haired girl. She smiled and gave me a friendly 'hello'. "Uo-chan and Hana-chan, this is Leikfang Kaelyn-san."

"Hello, Uotani-san, Hanajima-san," I greeted, my eyes downcast. I scooted in next to Tohru and poked my fork at lunch. Peas. And pork roast. I popped a pea with my fork. How entertaining.

Meanwhile, Hanajima was talking to Tohru. "She has strange waves, but good ones. A lot like theirs, but not quiet. Stronger, I might say."

"Hana-chan reads people's waves," Tohru told me, smiling. "She can tell if they're good people or bad people."

"Don't forget, that Megumi kid can curse people, too," Uotani informed me with an evil grin. I really don't want to get on her bad side.

"Megumi," Hanajima paused, catching my attention. "Megumi is my younger brother. We are nothing alike."

God, Tohru had creepy friends.

Suddenly, the girl stood up and yelled, waving her hand to get someone's attention, "YUKI-KUN! KYO-KUN! WE'RE OVER HERE!"

I froze. I stared straight ahead, unseeing. My throat convulsed, and I swallowed. My tongue was dry. My face was even paler than usual. My hands shook. I quickly hid my hands in my lap and bowed my head so I was staring at my plate. My raven hair formed curtains on either side of my face, and my bangs hid my eyes and forehead.

I heard Uotani teasing, "Oh, is the new girl shy?" and Hanajima reply, "Perhaps."

Footsteps. One, two, two pairs of footsteps. So it was just the two Sohmas. But two was already too many Sohmas Hell, one Sohma was too many. Shit. I was in deep. Way too deep. Shit. Shit. Shit.

"Oi, Prince Charming," Uotani greeted, and there was the scraping as she moved over.

Someone sat down, a tray was placed on the table.

"Who the hell are you?"That was Kyo. Yuki fit his nickname; he was regal and polite. He wouldn't talk like that to anyone other than Kyo. Right? "I said, who the hell are you?" He was obviously speaking to me.

"Leave the poor girl alone, orange-top, she's shy," Uotani said. I was beginning to like her.

Kyo probably rolled his eyes. 'I still want to know who the hell she is."

"Kyo-kun, this is Leikfang Kaelyn-san," Tohru said, gesturing to me, which I caught out of the corner of my eye. My hands clenched together. Don't recognize me. Don't recognize me. Don't recognize me. Yeah, just say it three times and you'll be back in Kansas, Dorothy. Shit. I was beginning to lose my mind. "Leikfang-san, these are Sohma Kyo-kun and Sohma Yuki-kun."

I nodded. Barely.

"Can't you talk?" Kyo asked, sounding annoyed.

"Uotani-san said she is shy, you stupid cat," Yuki said calmly. I winced slightly at the mention of the curse. It hurt to think of it. "Or don't you listen?"

"Blah. Blah. Blah," Kyo said, sticking his tongue out.

I had raised my head enough to watch everybody through my bangs. I continued to poke at my lunch with my fork. Watched the peas roll over the plate, and lost my appetite. I didn't feel well. My stomach was churning and I felt almost my whole body trembling. Was it fear that was making me sick? Probably not. I had always been sickly and frail. Worse than Yuki.

"I think I need to sue the bathroom," I murmured, beginning to stand up. "I'll be back in a moment, Honda-san."

"Would you like me to show you the way?" She asked.

I shook my head. "No thanks."

I left the table quickly, my hands clenched into fists at my sides. My left hand hurt because of the brace, but I ignored it. I needed a bathroom. Bad. I was going to throw up soon. And why was I feeling so sick? I hadn't caught the flu or anything, had I?

I was in the hallway when I saw him. I recognized him instantly, my muscles freezing up ad my eyes widening as I stared at him. White hair, shaggy and a bit long on top, black roots, cut short at the back of his head. Three earrings in each ear and a necklace-bracelet set, all self-made. No shirt under the jacket of the uniform, which was open halfway. Easy posture, hands in pockets.

I didn't know whether I was happy or scared to see him.

He glanced at me, and I immediately turned bright red. I backed away, the bathroom sign catching the corner of my eye. I turned abruptly and ran for the door. I wanted to cry, but I was definitely going to throw up. My face was probably green.

I hid in the biggest stall, locking the door and curling up in the corner away from the toilet. The tears didn't come, like I expected them to. Instead, my stomach heaved and I crawled over to the toilet, vomiting into it. I held my hair with one hand my stomach with the other.

When my throat hurt from all the stomach acid that had flooded my throat, and I knew nothing more was coming, I flushed the toilet, letting my forehead press against the seat. Probably not the most sanitary idea, but the cold plastic felt good.

Yep. Definitely sick.

I sat up and started digging through my pockets for something I always carried with me: a packet of minty fresh long-lasting chewing gum. I found one and pooped a stick into my mouth, throwing the wrapper into the trash can. I left the stall to wash my face and my mouth. I checked my hair, rebraiding the red strands I'd dyed a couple of weeks ago.

I peeked out the door, looking for him. The hallway was empty. Thank god.

I headed back to the table, not making eye-contact with anyone. I still didn't feel well, and kept insisting I was fine when Tohru kept asking. Part of my illness was definitely fear. There were three Sohmas. Three Sohmas, and counting. Shit.


End file.
